Hello Theatre Lovers!
It is so hard to believe that next week will be the beginning of December. How has that happened? The world around us seemed to stop this year, but the calendar has carried on! This photo was taken last December when we presented our First Annual Staged Reading of A Christmas Carol. We had wonderfully talented participants reading this time honoured story for us at the beautiful First Presbyterian Church. It felt very special and all in attendance loved the feeling of community that this evening brought. This year we just do not want to miss our “Second Annual Reading” so we are taking our show online! More about this later on in the newsletter.
We are thrilled to be presenting two very special Christmas shows this year. After our presentation of A Christmas Carol (a 48 hour run) we will present Leisa Ways’ brand new Christmas variety show called Rockin’ Round The Christmas Tree. This show will run for 16 days over the holidays! We hope to provide you with some really great programming to sit back and enjoy safely in your own home this holiday season. Remember that these online shows make great Christmas presents, too!
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PLEASE NOTE THAT OUR THEATRE COLLINGWOOD ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING WILL BE HELD THIS YEAR VIA ZOOM (ONLINE) ON MONDAY, DECEMBER 7TH, 2020 AT 3PM.
This AGM is allowed online due to the pandemic restrictions. At the AGM the 2019 Audited Financial Report will be presented as well as an overview of 2020/2021. If you wish to attend the Theatre Collingwood AGM please email us HERE.
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2020 has been a year unlike any other, so for that reason we decided to make our 2020 reading of A Christmas Carol unlike any other! This year our entire cast is made up of all WOMEN! They are super talented and we are very excited about what we will be offering you on line from December 18th-20th. Links are just $25 (+HST) and will make a fantastic Christmas gift for families, friends, coworkers or clients who may not be able to get together this year. Here’s a little history about the show:
The story was written in 1843 and apparently written very quickly; Dickens was seized with the idea and completed the little book in just under six weeks. He got the idea for the story after visiting the northern industrial town of Manchester, England, where he made a speech about the necessity of educating very poor children.
CBC began doing the readings of A Christmas Carol in 1990, and few events hosted by CBC Radio were as eagerly anticipated or as warmly received as these. Dickens’ story is pack with glorious imagery and so makes for a fantastic staged reading for all ages to enjoy. Our reading will bring together the pleasure of hearing a good story, the joy of the music of the season, and the inspired energy of those who want to make their community a better place. Theatre Collingwood will be using the same CBC script for our staged reading of A Christmas Carol and we hope to make your holiday season a little brighter and a little more fun!
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OUR CAST & CREATIVE TEAM ARE LOOKING FORWARD TO OUR ZOOM REHEARSALS! |
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Janet Fairbridge - Reader |
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Catsue McBroom
Character Designs
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Anne Raciunas – Foley Artist |
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Greg Gibson – the only man allowed in this production and our Musical Accompanist! |
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Next week you will be able to check out
the cast members’ bios on our website.
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I would like to thank Tanya Mazza and the Town of Collingwood for once again putting on a wonderful Creative Collingwood Symposium on November 25th! This year they had to pivot on line and the event was both interesting and entertaining. I particularly enjoyed listening to Fred Pitt who is a mindfulness expert. Fred pointed out that through these stressful times our minds can be really overloaded, and that we need to unclutter our mind in order to be creative. He defined creativity as allowing yourself to go to unexpected spaces while understanding and accepting that “this may not work”. As a creative thinker, I have had to really push my boundaries this year (and actually last year, too) and to really accept that concept that we can try new things and that they may or may not work, but the important thing is that we keep trying!
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Update on Financial Support from the Government
Theatre Collingwood has taken many steps to assure the continuation of our company this year. The first was to move our office to 150 St. Paul and reduce our rent. We have taken advantage of the wage subsidy program in order to keep our staff employed. We are now happy to see that we can apply for the new government rent subsidy. It is not easy to work our way through these programs and I want to thank our Treasurer, Jim Anderson, for his help with this. I also want to thank Jim, Mary Beth and Anne for all the work they did with BDO on our annual Audited Financial Statement. This is not fun work and everyone went over and above.
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Leisa Way & The Wayward Wind Band will be
Rockin’ Round The Christmas Tree!
We are so excited to have Leisa Way back for another great Christmas show this year, this time presented on line.
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With the purchase of a link you will be able to watch the show up to three times between December 19th and January 3rd. HMMMMMMMM? I’m thinking this could be a fun show to enjoy for New Years!!
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WATCHING SHOWS ONLINE DOES NOT HAVE TO BE STRESSFUL
We are all on a learning curve when it comes to producing shows online and to watching shows online. The truth is we really have no choice. I am here to tell you that watching shows online does not have to be difficult, and you have options. Also, once you get set up for that first online viewing you should be good to go for future viewings. AND there are so many wonderful online shows to watch! Here are my suggestions:
- You can watch the show on your computer, IPad, or mobile device just by clicking on the link.
- You can connect your laptop computer directly to your TV with an HDMI cord and just use your TV like a big screen. You will have to go into settings to then set up the TV, and then open your emails to click on your link for the show.
- You should have Apple Smart Play on your smart TV and it could be very easy to open there.
- You can “mirror” your IPhone or other mobile devices to your smart TV. Check out the YouTube video below.
- The most important thing is to try setting this up days before you want to watch the show because Step #5 is to call a high school student and get them to come do it for you!
Notes from Tom at Mountain Goat Film: The platforms we use for our online presentations are web browser based, meaning it can be opened on any browser via the link in your email or using the URL. Alternatively, you can use any mobile device or computer to AirPlay (if Apple) or Screen Cast (if Windows or Chrome) to show or Bluetooth broadcast your device on your Smart TV. The best experience for such a viewing is to go to full screen on Crowdcast, to fill up your entire screen.
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We are thrilled to announce that we are starting up our Facebook Live show, The Stage Door, again on Facebook Live on Wednesday, December 2nd at 7pm. Just go to our Theatre Collingwood Facebook page to enjoy one hour of exploring behind the stage door with our artist guests. The Stage Door is hosted by Erica Angus and features one local and one national guest each episode. See you behind The Stage Door! To watch our past episodes please check them out HERE.
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Here are two videos that just might make your day. They made mine!
Six year old plays Carnegie Hall!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oybU09RQUTs
Four month old has a very loving moment over a Karen Carpenter song!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEeizaWjdXw
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Here are two videos that just might make your day. They made mine!
Six year old plays Carnegie Hall!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oybU09RQUTs
Four month old has a very loving moment over a Karen Carpenter song!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEeizaWjdXw
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PLEASE REMEMBER THAT DECEMBER 1ST IS GIVING TUESDAY. THIS DAY WAS DEVELOPED TO ENCOURAGE US TO CONSIDER GIVING TO A NON-PROFIT OR CHARITY BEFORE THE END OF THE YEAR. THEATRE COLLINGWOOD IS A NOT-FOR-PROFIT THEATRE COMPANY WITH CHARITABLE STATUS. ANY DONATION YOU GIVE TO US IS TAX RECEITABLE. WHATEVER YOUR CHARITY OF CHOICE IS, PLEASE CONSIDER DONATING ON GIVING TUESDAY. THANK YOU.
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If you are a Chris Tsujiuchi fan, like I am, you will be glad to hear that Chris is presenting his annual Christmas show online, and will continue to strive to KEEP THE YULETIDE GAY! Chris and all his artists are so talented. To check this show out and to buy your ticket visit:
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I love Christmas music and Christmas shows so much! Please write to me HERE and let me know what your favourite Christmas music or shows are. Or, maybe you have a great Christmas or holiday memory you would like to share. This year is unlike any other but even if we have to visit virtually we can still feel connected. PLEASE SHARE OUR NEWSLETTER WITH YOUR FRIENDS. Maybe consider reaching out to someone you have not talked to for a while and share some Christmas joy! And while you are at it, please order some food from our Dine & PLAY partners. They could use our help, too. You can find them HERE. To our American friends, HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
Have a great week everyone!
Erica
Erica Angus
Executive Director, Theatre Collingwood
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